Table of Contents

This study is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA), the aging program within ICPSR. NACDA
is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Heath (NIH).

National Health Interview Survey, 2004 (ICPSR 4349)

Principal Investigator(s):United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics

Summary:

The purpose of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
is to obtain information about the amount and distribution of illness,
its effects in terms of disability and chronic impairments, and the
kinds of health services people receive. Implementation of a
redesigned NHIS, consisting of a basic module, a periodic module, and
a topical module, began in 1997 (see NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY,
1997 [ICPSR 2954]). The 2004 NHIS contains the Household, Family,
Person, Sample Adult and Sa... (more info)

The purpose of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
is to obtain information about the amount and distribution of illness,
its effects in terms of disability and chronic impairments, and the
kinds of health services people receive. Implementation of a
redesigned NHIS, consisting of a basic module, a periodic module, and
a topical module, began in 1997 (see NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY,
1997 [ICPSR 2954]). The 2004 NHIS contains the Household, Family,
Person, Sample Adult and Sample Child files from the basic
module. Each record in the Household-level File (Part 1) contains data
on type of living quarters, number of families in the household
responding and not responding, and the month and year of the interview
for each sampling unit. The Family-level File (Part 2) is made up of
reconstructed variables from the person-level data of the basic module
and includes information on sex, age, race, marital status, Hispanic
origin, education, veteran status, family income, family size, major
activities, health status, activity limits, and employment status,
along with industry and occupation. As part of the basic module, the
Person-level File (Part 3) provides information on all family members
with respect to health status, limitation of daily activities,
cognitive impairment, and health conditions. Also included are data on
years at current residence, region variables, height, weight, bed
days, doctor visits, hospital stays, and health care access and
utilization. A randomly-selected adult in each family was interviewed
for the Sample Adult File (Part 4) regarding respiratory conditions,
use of nasal spray, renal conditions, AIDS, joint symptoms, health
status, limitation of daily activities, and behaviors such as smoking,
alcohol consumption, and physical activity. The Sample Child File
(Part 5) provides information from an adult in the household on
medical conditions of one child in the household, such as respiratory
problems, seizures, allergies, and use of special equipment like
hearing aids, braces, or wheelchairs. Also included are variables
regarding child behavior, the use of mental health services, and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as well as responses
to the SDQ-EX, which is the extended version of Strengths and
Difficulties questionnaire on child mental health. Several changes
have occurred in the 2004 NHIS. The Child Immunization Section (CIM)
has been dropped. Also new in 2004, questionnaires have been provided
in both English and Spanish. The Injury/Poison Episode File (Part 6)
is an episode-based file that contains information about the external
cause and nature of the injury or poisoning episode and what the
person was doing at the time of the injury or poisoning episode, in
addition to the date and place of occurrence. The Injury/Poison
Episode Verbatim File (Part 7) contains edited narrative text
descriptions of the injury or poisoning provided by the
respondent. Imputed income files for 2004 are now available through
the NCHS Web site at www.cdc.gov/nhis.

Study Description

Citation

United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey, 2004. ICPSR04349-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-05-04. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04349.v2

Universe:
Civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the 50 states
and the District of Columbia.

Data Types:
survey data, and clinical data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) Users should refer to the Survey Description for
changes regarding the structure of the 2004 NHIS. In previous years,
one household equaled one "case." In 2004, each family is considered a
separate case. For multiple-family households, there is a "parent"
case designated for the first family identified, and each subsequent
family becomes a "spawned" case from the parent, with its own unique
ID number. (2) Because variables are not repeated on data files in the
2004 NHIS, users will need to merge files in order to analyze the
data. Instructions on merging files are found in the Survey
Description. Also included in 2004 are Variable Summary Reports that
describe the variable and the question number on which it was based,
and Variable Layout Reports that provide the actual question that
generated the variable along with the universe and response
values. (3) The data from the Household-level File can be merged with
any of the other files, and other files can be merged as well. For
further information on merging data, consult the Survey Description.
(4) The Injury/Poison Episode Verbatim File (Part 7) is available only
with SAS setup files. (5) To learn more about the National Health
Interview Survey, visit the following Web site of the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC). At that site you can join the HISUSERS
e-mail list by providing your name and e-mail address, selecting the
item, "National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) researchers," and
clicking on "subscribe."

Methodology

Sample:
The NHIS uses a stratified multistage probability design.
The sample for the NHIS is redesigned every decade using population
data from the most recent decennial census. A redesigned sample was
implemented in 1995. This new design includes a greater number of
primary sampling units (PSUs) (from 198 in 1994 to 358), and a more
complicated nonresponse adjustment based on household screening and
oversampling of Black and Hispanic persons, for more reliable
estimates of these groups.

Weight:
These data contain multiple weight variables for each part.
Users should refer to the technical documentation for further
information regarding the weight and their derivation. Additionally,
users may need to weight the data prior to analysis.